Cassandra Gay Peterson [ 1 ] born September 17, is an American actress best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. A member of the Los Angeles-based improvisational and sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings , Peterson based her Elvira persona in part on a " Valley girl "-type character she created while a member of the troupe. The television show was revived in , featuring Elvira hosting public domain films, and airing on This TV until Elvira returned as a horror hostess in with 13 Nights of Elvira , a episode series produced by Hulu , and again in for a one-night 40th Anniversary Special that aired on Shudder.
Peterson has made cameo appearances as Elvira in a number of films and television programs, including appearing as a guest commentator during WrestleMania 2 and as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race , The Boulet Brothers' Dragula , and Halloween Wars. Peterson was born on September 17, [ 3 ] in Manhattan, Kansas. In a interview, Peterson stated that as a child, she was more fascinated by horror-themed toys while other girls were occupied with Barbie dolls.
Inspired by Ann-Margret in the film Viva Las Vegas , while on a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada , during high school, she persuaded her parents to let her see a live show where she was noticed by the production staff; despite being only 17 years old, she persuaded her parents to let her sign a contract. After being introduced to film director Federico Fellini by the producer of a documentary on Las Vegas showgirls in which she had appeared, she landed a small part in the film Roma In her memoir Yours Cruelly, Elvira , she writes, "Perhaps the biggest mistake I made in my twenties was posing nude for a husband-and-wife photography team, who bullshitted me into doing what they said was a 'test shoot' for Penthouse magazine.
They guaranteed me it would never be seen anywhere publicly. Those photos, pubic hair and all, appeared in every sleazy men's magazine on the stand and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. In , she joined the Los Angeles-based improvisational troupe The Groundlings , where she created a Valley girl -type character upon whom the Elvira persona is largely based. Peterson was one of two finalists for the role of Ginger Grant for the third Gilligan's Island television movie in , but was dropped before filming.
In , six years after the death of Larry Vincent , who starred as host Sinister Seymour of a Los Angeles weekend horror show called Fright Night , show producers began to bring the show back. The producers decided to use a hostess. Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but quit when the producers would not hire Lola Falana to play Vampira. Producers left it up to her to create the role's image. Shortly before the first taping, producers received a cease and desist letter from Nurmi.
